How To Become a Personal Assistant

1. Obtain a high school diploma. …
2. Pursue a bachelor’s degree. …
3. Hone your skills. …
4. Gain experience. …
5. Take an online course or obtain certification. …
6. Apply for jobs. …
7. Make soft skills a priority. …
8. Practice being proactive.

5 Tips for becoming a Personal Assistant

What does a personal assistant do?

Depending on the employer, a personal assistant will have a variety of responsibilities. Common duties that personal assistants are responsible for include:

What is a personal assistant?

A personal assistant is a professional who handles various administrative tasks for another professional or business. Personal assistants are also referred to as personal secretaries or personal aides. Personal assistants may be in charge of personal tasks, professional obligations, and other jobs that directly support a particular person.

There are several different kinds of personal assistants, with the following being the most popular:

Personal assistants may work independently, as part of a personal assistant agency, or as an employee of an organization. They may work part time or full time. By performing various tasks that lessen the employer’s overall daily responsibilities, a personal assistant seeks to reduce their employer’s stress in both their professional and personal lives.

How to become a personal assistant

You can take the following actions to pursue a career as a personal assistant:

1. Obtain a high school diploma

To start a career as a personal assistant, you must first earn your high school diploma or the equivalent. Typically, this is the prerequisite for the majority of personal assistant positions. A GED certificate will substitute for your high school diploma if you don’t have one.

2. Pursue a bachelors degree

Consider pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration or a related field if you want to stand out in the field of personal assistants. Your career as a personal assistant will be supported by the soft and hard skills you learn from this kind of degree, such as budgeting and office management.

3. Hone your skills

To be a successful personal assistant, you need to possess a variety of abilities. Trustworthiness, organization, communication skills, interpersonal skills, time management abilities, and flexibility are some of the most crucial traits you should have. Spend time honing these abilities so that they come naturally to you.

4. Gain experience

You’ll probably need to gain some experience first to attract employers if you want to be taken into consideration for a full-time personal assistant position. Employing managers can see that you have the necessary abilities to be a personal assistant by looking at your performance in administrative positions, which are a great way to gain practical assistant experience.

5. Take an online course or obtain certification

Aspiring personal assistants have access to a variety of online courses that offer ample opportunity to learn about this career and the abilities necessary to succeed in it. To distinguish yourself from other candidates, you can also earn a Certified Administrative Professional certification from the International Association of Administrative Professionals or another relevant certification.

6. Apply for jobs

Once you have the required experience, you can start looking for personal assistant jobs. It’s crucial for job seekers who are new to this field to keep looking until they find a position that best matches their skills and interests.

Average salary for personal assistants

For instance, personal assistants in New York, NY, earn an average of $57,670 annually, while those in Memphis, TN, make about $36,016.

Common benefits that personal assistants enjoy include:

Tips for becoming a personal assistant

Here are some crucial pointers to bear in mind as you pursue and engage in a career as a personal assistant:

Make soft skills a priority

Depending on where you work, being a personal assistant does require some hard skills, but most personal assistants need to have a number of soft skills.

Communication, problem-solving, customer service, and attention to detail are among these soft skills. These abilities will help you succeed in your career as a personal assistant and make you stand out from the competition when you apply for jobs.

Practice being proactive

When hiring personal assistants, most employers look for candidates who can take care of their needs on their own. For instance, you could have the document ready before your employer even requests it rather than waiting for them to ask you to prepare one that you know you’ll need to eventually.

Employers value initiative greatly, so having it will help you get and keep a job as a personal assistant.

Be open to new tasks and roles

A personal assistant often plays many roles for an employer. The more adaptable and willing you are to take on new responsibilities, the more likely it is that you will advance in your career.

Dont forget your own needs

Being a personal assistant frequently entails attending to an employer’s every need, and it can be simple to lose yourself in this line of work and neglect your own needs. To maintain a healthy work-life balance, you should prioritize your own needs and well-being in addition to those of your employer both during and after work hours.

FAQs about a career as a personal assistant

Several frequently asked questions about a career as a personal assistant are listed below:

What is the work environment like for a personal assistant?

The majority of personal assistants either work in an office environment or at their employer’s home. Some personal assistants may also work from home, where they can carry out the majority of their tasks. The typical business hours for personal assistants are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. m. to 5 p. m. some people work longer hours or on weekends, while others

What is the job outlook like for personal assistants?

However, this does not imply that there won’t be any more openings for personal assistant positions. It simply means that more businesses are utilizing automated systems to carry out administrative tasks, but people and executives will probably continue to prefer hiring human beings as personal assistants.

What are similar occupations to being a personal assistant?

Many occupations are comparable to those of a personal assistant, including:

Do you have to travel as a personal assistant?

The particular employer you work for will determine whether you travel or not as a personal assistant. For instance, you would be required to travel for that job if you were employed by a person who wanted you to accompany them on their trip in order to support and help them. However, if you work for a company and are required to be in the office constantly, you probably won’t travel much at all.

FAQ

What qualifications do you need to be a personal assistant?

• administration skills.
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail.
• the ability to work well with others.
• to be flexible and open to change.
• patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations.
• knowledge of English language.
• business management skills.
• excellent verbal communication skills.

Is a personal assistant job hard?

The work is always focused on the needs of the manager, which can make the job very stressful at times when dealing with difficult or demanding people who are frequently at very senior levels.

What do personal assistants do?

Secretarial work is done by personal assistants, who also provide daily administrative support to senior managers. They are responsible for taking calls, managing correspondence, setting up appointments, and planning travel. They may also be required to organize events.